A Trip Down Cemetery Lane
A downloadable game
Ghost stories warn us to beware of hitch-hiking ghosts. But what do you do when you ARE the hitch-hiking ghost?
A Trip Down Cemetery Lane is a GM-less card-based RPG for 2-4 players. In it, players find themselves all hitching a ride together, and slowly opening up to each other about their hopes and fears, their triumphs and tragedies. That is, until they realize, they've been ghosts all along. Thankfully, one of them is a guide, here to help them find their way and come to grips with their untimely demise.
Created for TropesJam 2019, A Trip Down Cemetery Lane uses a standard deck of playing cards to prompt players to build their characters, and then work through the stories left unresolved by their passing.
As of 3/19/2020, I've also added the "Hopeful Edition." While mostly the same, it makes specific changes to the third phase of the game. In this version, reincarnation is forthcoming, and the conversation is one about hopes, goals, excitement, and feeling relief. It is a moment in time when the troubles facing the world are myriad, and while I feel there is a place for processing and uncertainty, it isn't the right time for that for everyone. Hopefully, these changes can help players shift from trepidation and anxiety about endings and what is to come, to thinking about plans for the future and new ways forward as many of us face massive changes in our lives. Take care and be safe out there.
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Development log
- "The Hopeful Edition" ReleaedMar 19, 2020
- Hitching A Ride: The Choices Behind "A Trip Down Cemetery Lane"Sep 11, 2019
Comments
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A Trip Down Cemetery Lane is a GMless 2--4 player game about crossing from this world to the next. You play as ghosts on a lonesome highway, hitching a ride with Charon, and the game mechanics use a deck of cards and conversation.
The PDF is 6 pages, and there's two versions. One is more optimistic and positive than the other, so you can pick the style you want to engage with.
That said, the "negative" version isn't really bleak. It's agnostic, but it also establishes as canon that there are ghosts and that there's a Beyond Here, which is basically a huge improvement over the normal amount of human existential uncertainty.
Furthermore, Cemetery Lane isn't a game you can lose. You match cards for a couple of rounds, talking all the while, and the cards are mostly there to keep your hands busy. Talking and philosophizing about life and what comes next is the core of the game.
Overall, I think Cemetery Lane is a cool game if you've got a group that's looking for a deep conversation. The story is maybe heavy, maybe light, depending on how you spin it, but the narrative is secondary to the characters just expressing themselves. So if that sounds like something you might be interested in, pick this up.
Thank you for the review! I appreciate the time spent and thoughtful commentary.
Thank you for writing the game! It was a really cool read.